My Nanna (Big Nanna) recently
passed away at the age of 90. I am raising money for Forever Manchester as this City was my Nanna's home for many, many
years. Life in Manchester taught my Nanna how to be brave and selfless.

My Nanna's life began in the heart
of the city of Manchester. She always spoke fondly of her early life in a
family of 13 children, in the brown brick terraced houses and cobbled streets
of Deansgate. Her family all learned how to make the most of the little they
had, and to share it with others. She was resourceful and always grateful.

In 1939, just before my Nanna was 13 years old, WW2 began. Along with 5 of her
younger siblings, she was evacuated from Manchester; which would later be
bombed, to live in Liverpool with strangers. They were told they were going
away for a weekend. That weekend lasted for 2 years.

Nanna did not like being separated from her parents, brothers and sisters so
when she was 14 she organised a small group of children to escape and walk home
from Liverpool to Manchester – a distance of 30 miles, but their escape failed after several miles and they were all returned to Liverpool. She was determined.

Once my Nanna was old enough to
enlist in the Army, she joined the Auxilliary Territorial Service and trained
as a cook. Cooking was a skill she was always good at – Sunday afternoons were
often spent baking, and her thick crust apple pies were the best. After
marrying my Grandad and having 4 children, they moved to Langley where, in 1964
the decision was made to emigrate to Australia. This meant leaving the support of her beloved
sisters, brothers and mother to travel across the world and settle in an
unknown country, all because she wanted a better life for her children than she
had known. She was a brave pioneer.

Nanna turned out to be a great
investment for the Australian governments £10 Pom
scheme. She became grandmother to 14 children, great grandmother to 31
children, and great-great grandmother to 2 children She was very productive !

Despite having dementia for the
final years of her life, Nanna still kept her dry Mancunian sense of humour.
Once, when being reminded of all the children she was “Big Nanna” to, she
chuckled, “ No wonder
I’m so tired!” Despite all of the difficulties
that dementia created; the many falls, the loss of memory, the loss of
independence, the loss of confidence, she kept on getting up again and not
giving up right to the end. She was a positive, brave and independent woman. She
was a great role model for me, of what a girl from Manchester can be

Big Nanna will live on in my heart forever.

I will be putting 100% into my training in the lead up to the boxing match. 6 days a week & sometimes twice a day. This training will include boxing training camps, boxing PT sessions with a professional boxing coach, strength training, committing to 20k steps every day & most importantly NO alcohol! 

Together let's make a difference to Manchester by building stronger communities The Mancunian Way

Thank you for visiting my just giving page x